If you don’t come from an art background or haven’t had any art training, then introducing art lessons to your students might feel like unfamiliar territory. What makes it worse, is that there are no real guidelines or proper art literacy standards available in traditional Montessori training. I know how frustrating it can be to take something so foreign and bring it into your classroom with confidence. The secret is using Montessori concepts to merge the two together. Here’s how to create your own, effective Montessori art direct and indirect aims.

I’ve worked with Montessori teachers and in Montessori classrooms all over the world, and I also have a background in all types of visual art. It took years of observation and teaching art directly to students, but I’ve figured out a way for you—even if you have no art experience—to support art literacy in your Montessori classroom. 

I’m sure you know how important it is to support students in their own self discovery using their hands and senses within the classroom environment. This exploration process is similar to how artists discover and create with their own hands too. Our hands are the neural connection that feeds our brain information; they’re also the way we develop and hone our fine-motor skills. 

So, as a Montessori teacher, how can you support students in the artistic process and inspire them to think creatively? Start with understanding how direct and indirect aims relate to artistic development and progression.

For an artist to create, they must move through the artistic process, which is the four actions an artist experiences while creating and producing artworks. It starts with self discovery through their hands, then designing with their imaginations, then constructing with materials, and finally, reflecting about their process through expression by using art language, creative writing, or community sharing.

Where to Start: Using Montessori Art Direct and Indirect Aims

So let’s compare these actions to Montessori’s method of direct and indirect aims to teaching as a guide.

Art Lesson: Direct Aims

In an artistic environment, your Montessori art direct aim can be to prepare the work space, explore different artist materials, and manage time for art creation—while following art standards. You can also demonstrate and isolate techniques that promote independent exploration, engagement, and how to work in a respectful, artful way within the classroom.

The Artistic Process: Indirect Aims

Indirect aims are accomplished by stepping back and allowing the artistic process’s four actions to unfold. Self discovery by sensory tactile spatial exploration with the eyes, hands and mind; improvisation and creative selection of the elements and principles of design; the hands-on construction of ideas; and finally, the opportunity to reflect on the process verbally or through writing. Indirect aims unfold during the artistic process. Creativity is the result of the process.

POSTED ONFEBRUARY 4, 2021EDIT”MAKING ART STIMULATES KIDS’ BRAIN DEVELOPMENT”

Making Art Stimulates Kids’ Brain Development

I talk to so many adults and teachers who think art is just a frivolous subject, an activity to give kids to do to keep them quiet for an hour or so. Some might even know the value of art in that it encourages kids to think creatively and and work through complex emotions. Art benefits both their mental health and their fine motor skills too, but did you know art making stimulates kids’ brain development!? It goes beyond creative expression (although that’s important too) and actually has lasting positive effects on kids’ brains!

You may think that the art projects and lessons you’ve been doing in your Montessori classroom is just busy work—filling time and keeping kids busy, but there is a lot of behind-the-scenes action going on during each art activity that fuels students’ brain development. We know that when a child touches an object, information is sent through their sensory nerves to their brains.  Visual art learning often happens through direct sensory interactions which stimulates learning in different ways than visual and audio learning. 

These sensory experiences can help young students learn more, better understand different ideas and concepts, and art making stimulates kids’ brain development. Here are a few areas where art directly benefits kids’ brain development.

Gross Fine-Motor Skills

Visual arts provides kids with the opportunity to use their hands on a regular basis—holding pencils, pinching and sculpting clay, cutting with scissors, and making fluid brushstrokes all help kids build their hand muscles and strengthen their hand-eye coordination as well as fine motor movements. 

Connection to Vocabulary and Communication

Visual arts help kids make connections across different subjects and ideas to be able to better understand things. So when kids explore different art activities, they’re actually learning how to communicate what they see in their artworks and how to describe the artistic process they use to create. In doing this, they unknowingly start making observations such as, “I see color,” “I see pink,” “I see a squiggly line,” “I see zigzags.” When they communicate those observations to you or each other, they begin to develop their art language and a greater vocabulary, which is a part of cognitive processing.

Stress Regulation

Creating art also helps children wire their brains to regulate stress. Art gives them the tools to learn how to calm themselves down. Tactile cognitive processing occurs when children create art; the neural networks in their brains fire up and signal their brain to focus solely on what they’re doing with their hands, blocking out outside thoughts and stimuli. What happens is, if kids are stressed out or upset about something and they’re making art, they can’t focus on that. Art involves active learning, meaning they have to focus on what they’re doing immediately, which takes away the upsetting, stressful things that are happening in their environment.

Implicit Memory

Another area of brain development art fuels is Implicit memory. When kids learn repeated movements, they’re strengthening their Implicit memory and are actually storing this new information. The next time that they go about making an art, their Implicit memory kicks in and their hand movements will come naturally—the actions are wired into their memories. That means they don’t have to consciously think about every minute action; they will see a paintbrush, and instinctively know to pick it up, dip it into the palette or water, and start creating. The sensory information of seeing the paintbrush and then holding it in their hand immediately sends that information to their brain, triggering an action. Building this Implicit memory helps develop more skills down the road; they’ll have this Implicit memory already stored in their brains and can then focus on the next steps or deeper ideas.

Spatial Intelligence

Spatial intelligence is learned through creating with forms in space. When children make art, they become aware of the spatial relationships among objects in the realm of their own experiences. This gives them the ability to visualize and manipulate elements, rotate objects, and distinguish depth and balance—which is critical in early childhood brain development. It’s important to note that spatial intelligence is something that cannot be taught unless kids are actually doing an activity; art gives them the experience of seeing how things interact and happen dynamically or statically. 

Where to Start: Lesson Plans to Ensure Art Stimulates Kids’ Brain Development

Here’s some great news: students will automatically start getting all these benefits any time they create art! That means you don’t have to have any fancy art mediums or materials or complicated lesson plans. You can do simple activities to make sure art stimulates kids’ brain development. The more art lessons and activities you plan for your Montessori students, the more they’ll deepen their neural networks and build on all these developmental skills. Any art lesson, especially those that involve process-based or exploratory learning, will benefit kids’ brain development. 

One Step Further: Watch My Training, ‘How-to Teach Art Montessori Art Lessons Using Storybooks’

I’ve worked with so many Montessori teachers from all over the world and they’ve all told me how intimidating it is to actually teach art in their classrooms. I want art to be accessible to every child, from early elementary on up—and to do that, I know that actually teaching art needs to be easy. 

One way I love to introduce teachers to the idea of how to teach art is by showing you how to work with tools you already have—like storybooks! I created a virtual training that teaches you how to teach art by using storybooks to create art lesson themes. And as a bonus, I share some quick-planning ideas to help you regularly and easily schedule art activities in your Montessori classroom. 

To get access to this incredible training (for free!), click here!

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